Journey through wonderland

The days spent in Kerala are extra special, double topping with double extra cheese. First of all there is no school, no homework, no waking up early. That in itself is a big relief. Now that we are in our wonderland there is no room for law and order, it’s our world, our playground. Our first stop is Trivandrum which is biologically where we belong though we tend to deny it :-). Amma’s motherland automatically becomes her sibling’s motherland. That’s the rule but how many of us follow them ;-). Achan, amma and we always have a debate on this topic and until this very moment we’ve never come to an agreement.

It is so different in Kerala, the very air we breath is so fresh, the sounds of birds and the reverberation of the leaves when a gentle breeze falls on them. Hmmmm truly heaven. There is a river that flows behind amma’s home. It is not hygienic but who cares, besides we were too young to think about the repercussions. We pester the elders so much that they finally give up. Our adventure goes on for at least an hour or two, jumping, somersaulting having the time of our life. Then the point to mention is the grand feast kunjamma(amma’s sister) had prepared for us. Amma is a very good cook but for some reason or the other kunjamma outruns her in typical kerala style dishes. There are 2 things that we do every vacation we make to kerala, 1 is to visit the local zoological part and the other visit Shankhumukam(beach). Saju was close to Shibu at the same time very apprehensive, owes to the fact how humble and quiet he was hehe.

Now comes the best part……..moving to Thodupuzha (achan’s place). I have to admit the degree of fun was always more here, not because we did not like Trivandrum but because achan’s family is much bigger and calls for more cousins. Oh it was like a carnival. I don’t know what you call it in English. It’s a game where all of us sit around a table with our palms facing down on the table, one would sing/count touching over each palm and where the song ends they had to face their palm up, next time it stop on the same hand, it is moved out and the person who ends up till the end wins the game. Then a unique mode of fun ‘Maadam Kettal’!!! No clue??? ;-) In pure English game to build a makeshift home, with leaves, branches, use coconut shells as vessels, clay as rice, leaves as curries. Once I remember it started raining and we took shelter in the makeshift home but it did not last too long. Another object of admiration was the cow and calf at Kamalalayam. Now we don’t get to see one in Dubai so why not spent some time with them, feeding them, touching them, loving them. Then the most adorable thing ‘DON’!!! No no it’s not Don Corleone ;-) but our german shepherd dog. I was fascinated by animals especially dogs right from my childhood. We used to play with him a lot. These are just a few of the lovely moments we cherish even now.

The bad part of all vacations is that it is over before we even realize it. 2 months goes in a flash. All of a sudden my brother and I are jolted out of the bed by mom because its time to go to school. A year of hardship until we can relive the action, the adventure, the thrill all over again.

Childhood is what anyone wants to remember. It leaves behind no footprints, except perhaps in imagination.